Jack Keen Racing – Round 5 – Oulton Park 9th – 11th August 2013
Jack Keen Racing – Round 5 – Oulton Park
The team arrived Thursday night, and camped up outside the track ready to set up Friday in time for practice. Free Practice: Jack had previous settings that he wanted to try out on the new engine and the suspension. He went out on old tyres, but noticed there were more serious handling issues that needed to be resolved for qualifying as the bike became near un-rideable.
Lap Time: 1,46.911
Qualifying: Jack went out with some new settings to try and rectify the handling issues. However, the problem became a lot worse. Jack then pitted in to make changes in the opposite direction on his suspension, but unfortunately due to a red flag, qualifying was stopped after only 6 laps for him which resulted in a 20th position start for Race 1.
Lap Time: 1,47.583
Race 1: The race got under way with Jack starting from a rare row 5. He quickly starting battling through the groups, and made it to 15th, however on the penultimate lap, Jack had a sudden loss of power, so he immediately hit the kill
switch and rolled off track. This gave Jack a DNF. The unfinished race turned out to be the least of our worries. With the bike and Jack safely back to the team awning, and after a short investigation, we discovered a major engine issue… a big problem which couldn’t be helped but which unfortunately couldn’t be fixed trackside. This put us out for the rest of the weekend so no Race 2 for JKR.
Lap Time: 1,45.734
Overview: All in all, what looked to be a positive round with a new engine in the bike turned into a disaster. We are waiting to hear the overall condition of the engine, and will update everyone as soon as we know more. We are hoping to get luck back on our side in the very near future! Massive Thanks to all our Sponsors, supporters and everyone that helped!
Jack Keen Racing #114 www.jackkeenracing.com
- Published in Jack Keen Racing
Jack Keen Round 4 – Brands Hatch 19th – 21st July 2013
Jack Keen Round 4 – Brands Hatch 19th – 21st July 2013
As usual, the team arrived Thursday to set up for the manic Friday ahead.
Free Practice Indy: A busy day with us being out on track 3 times, this including a
free practice, qual and 1 race, all on the Indy circuit. Practice didn’t go great with
Jack not being used to the new engine and the fuel map wasn’t quite right! Jack also
went out on old tyres. Lap Time: 50.773
Qualifying Indy: He was more keen for qual with a new fuel map in the bike and
fresh rubber! He managed 12th position with a new PB lap time! Lap Time: 49.507
Race 1 Indy: Jack got a half decent start and managed to move up 2 positions but
again with a different map in the bike. Jack felt the engine was improving and
managed to push on to 10th position! Not what jack wanted but more points on the
table. Lap Time: 49.307
Free Practice GP: Saturday went better than expected with the bike still
improving and Jack trying to learn the circuit more from only 20 mins previous
experience. He ended up 12th and this was on old tyres from Race 1. The team
again spent Saturday afternoon going over Jacks feed back and practice data to try
and improve! Jack opted for a gamble and wanted a change.
Lap Time: 1,35,053
Race 2 GP: Race 2 went ok and he managed to pull off another 10th place but
again Jack being Jack wasn’t happy and knows he should be battling in the top 5!!
Unfortunately the gearing change the team made didn’t work to plan but Jack
managed ride around the problem and keep his head down! Lap Time: 1,34.440
Overview: Overall an average weekend for team JKR but again more experience
gathered and ready to battle on for the next round. We would like to say a massive
thanks to ETL Cambridge, Team Havoc Racing and P&H Motorcycles for getting
us back out on track at Brands Hatch. Jack now stands 12th in the Ducati 848
Challenge Championship, and looks forward to Oulton Park in August.
Massive Thanks to all our Sponsors, supporters and everyone that helped!
- Published in Jack Keen Racing
Ducati 848 Challenge Snetterton Round 3 300 5th – 7th July 2013
Ducati 848 Challenge Snetterton Round 3 300 5th – 7th July 2013
We arrived at Snetterton Thursday afternoon to set up & prepare for FP on Friday.
Free Practice: Jack went into a very sunny free practice to double check his
settings from the test a few weeks earlier, however, on the 7th lap, he had to abandon
practice due to engine issues and a belly pan full of oil. This unfortunate event
looked to put the whole team out of action for the entire weekend! However, with
the help of ItalSport & the Ducati 848 paddock family, we were able to find a spare
engine, a non Evo standard road engine, but a working engine none the less.
Everybody pulled together, and we worked until 1am changing the engines.
Lap Time: 2,01.070
Qualifying: With qualifying at 9am, the team were up early after a late night to get
Jack back on track for qualifying. Even though Jack had no idea on the power the
standard road engine was giving out, he went out with a positive mind, pushed and
pushed and qualified 11th which gave us a 3rd row start for Race 1!
Lap Time: 1,58.804
Race 1: With the tyres refreshed and a few changes made to the gearing, Jack went
out into a very hot dry Race 1. Unfortunately, but as expected, the engine lapsed on
the power Jack needed to gain positions, but he still managed to hold his ride and
finished in 12th.
Lap Time: 1,59.892
Race 2: We noticed that the gear changes we had made for Race 1 had put us at a
disadvantage, so we made more changes and tweaks, refreshed the tyres and headed
into Race 2. Jacks grid position had changed from the previous Race results, which
meant he now start from 14th on row 4. Again, Jack being his usual self, pushed and
pushed, but we just couldn’t find the power to gain many positions, he held his
ground and finished in 13th.
Lap Time: 1,58.981
Overview: Considering we blew our engine, ran a completely standard road engine
and Jack suffered the worst arm pump of the season, we persevered and came away
with points and now we look forward coming back fighting at Brands Hatch!
Massive Thanks to all our Sponsors, supporters and everyone that helped!
Jack Keen Racing #114
- Published in Jack Keen Racing
